Bath ball

ABSTRACT

A bath ball comprises a main body made of a material of absorbing liquid; a tie cord for binding the main body; and a carry strap being an elongated belt with two ends, the two ends of the carry strap are merged to make the carry strap form a loop; at least one through hole is disposed on the carry strap; the tie cord passes through the through hole of the carry strap and binds the main body. Thereby, the carry strap does not need to be knotted manually, the carry strap can be connected to the tie cord conveniently and quickly, and the carry strap does not need to reserve a length required for knotting, so a production speed of the bath ball can be improved and costs can be reduced. Furthermore, the carry strap is restricted by the tie cord from sliding.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of Invention

The invention relates to a bath ball, in detail, to making of a carry strap of a bath ball.

Related Art

Bath ball is a cleaning accessory used to clean the human body. FIG. 1 shows a conventional bath ball 1 in which a fluffy object 2 is formed by stretching an elongated plastic net tube, a tie cord 3 is used to bind a central part of the fluffy object 2 to form the bath ball 1, a hang cord 4 passes through the tie cord 3 to connect with the tie cord 3, two ends of the hang cord 4 are merged and a knot 5 is knotted with the two ends. The bath ball 1 can be conveniently hung up and carried by a user with the hang cord 4.

The hang cord 4 of the conventional bath ball 1 is manually assembled. A worker who makes the bath ball 1 threads the hang cord 4 through the tie cord 3, and then the two ends of the hang cord 4 are combined to tie the knot 5. After the knot 5 is tied, the hang cord 4 is slid/rotated to move and hide the knot 5 in the bath ball 1 without exposing the knot 5, so that the bath ball 1 has an aesthetic appearance.

However, since the two ends of the hang cord 4 are tied into the knot 5 manually, a manufacturing speed of the bath ball 1 is slow and it is inefficient. Furthermore, the knot 5 occupies ⅓ of a length of the hang cord 4, in order that the length the hang cord 4 should have will not be shortened even after the knot 5 is knotted, the hang cord 4 must be made with a longer length, which causes an increase in manufacturing costs.

In addition, the connection between the hang cord 4 and the tie cord 3 is only achieved by threading the hang cord 4 through the tie cord 3, and there is no design between the tie cord 3 and the hang cord 4 to prevent the hang cord 4 from sliding. Therefore, the hang cord 4 will slide, causing the knot 5 to be exposed outside the bath ball 1, as shown in FIG. 2, which affects the aesthetics of the bath ball 1 and causes consumers to have an impression of being aesthetically unpleasing and poor quality.

How to improve the assembly efficiency of the hang cord of the conventional bath ball, reduce the cost of the hang cord, and make the bath ball have a better quality and an aesthetic appearance is a problem to be solved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A main object of the invention is to provide a bath ball capable of improving a production speed of the bath ball.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bath ball capable of saving a manufacturing cost of the bath ball.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a bath ball capable of maintaining an aesthetics of the bath ball.

The bath ball provided by the invention comprises:

a main body being a soft object made of a material being capable of absorbing liquid;

a tie cord for binding the main body; and

a carry strap being an elongated belt with two ends, the two ends of the carry strap are merged to make the carry strap form a loop; at least one through hole is provided on the carry strap;

the tie cord passes through said through hole of the carry strap and binds the main body.

Thereby, the carry strap does not need to be knotted manually, the carry strap can be connected to the tie cord conveniently and quickly, and the carry strap does not need to reserve a length required for knotting, so a production speed of the bath ball can be improved and manufacturing costs and material costs can be reduced. Furthermore, combination with the tie cord passing through the through hole of the carry strap is capable of preventing the carry strap from sliding by being restricted by the tie cord.

Preferably, the two ends of the carry strap are respectively provided with a through hole; and the tie cord passes through the two through holes.

Preferably, the two ends of the carry strap are combined to form a joint, and the carry strap forms a closed loop.

Preferably, the two ends of the carry strap are combined to form a joint; and said through hole is close to the joint or disposed on the joint.

Preferably, the two ends of the carry strap are overlapped side by side to form an overlapping portion, and the joint is disposed at the overlapping portion.

Preferably, the two ends of the carry strap are head-to-tail overlapped to form an overlapping portion; and the overlapping portion forms the joint, so that the carry strap forms a closed loop.

Preferably, the two ends of the carry strap are overlapped side by side, and the joint is formed at an overlapping point of the carry strap.

Preferably, the carry strap forms a closed loop and has at least two loop portions; a through hole is formed in one of the loop portions; and the tie cord passes through the through hole.

Preferably, the carry strap is made of a material that produces thermal bonding effect when being heated; and the joint is formed by hot pressing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The objects, features, and achieved efficacies of the invention can be understood from the description and drawings of the following preferred embodiments, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional bath ball;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an exposed knot of a hang cord of the conventional bath ball;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a bath ball according to a first preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a carry strap according to the first preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the bath ball according to a second preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of combination of the carry strap and a tie cord according to a third preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of combination of the carry strap and the tie cord according a fourth preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the bath ball according to a fifth preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing the tie cord of FIG. 9 passing through the carry strap;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of combination of the carry strap and the tie cord according to a sixth preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 12 and 13 are perspective views of combination of the carry strap and the tie cord according to seventh and eighth preferred embodiments of the invention respectively;

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of combination of the carry strap and the tie cord according to a ninth preferred embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of combination of the carry strap and the tie cord according to a tenth preferred embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Please refer to FIGS. 3 and 4 for a bath ball 10 provided by a first preferred embodiment of the invention mainly comprising a main body 20, a tie cord 25, and a carry strap 30.

The main body 20 is a fluffy soft object made of a material with capillarity and liquid absorbing effects. The main body 20 of the bath ball 10 of the invention is made of an elastic plastic net tube of an appropriate length. After the net tube is stretched and released, a fluffy soft object with multiple folds can be formed. How to stretch and release the plastic net tube is a conventional technology, which is not a subject matter of the invention and thus will not be described herein.

The tie cord 25 binds a middle part of the main body 20 so that the main body 20 forms a fluffy sphere for absorbing bath liquid and cleaning the human body with the main body 20. The main body 20 and the tie cord 25 are not the main features of the invention and thus will not be described herein.

Please refer to FIG. 4, the bath ball 10 of the invention further comprises the carry strap 30, which is an elongated belt with two ends. The carry strap 30 is preferably made of a high polymer material, such as plastic or rubber, which can be heated to produce thermal bonding effect. In this specification, the carry strap is collectively referred to with the reference numeral 30; and the carry straps of specific embodiments are indicated by the reference numerals 30A to 30J.

The carry strap 30 (30A) of this preferred embodiment is a woven belt, a flat elongated body woven with plastic material, and has a first end 31 and a second end 32; two threading portions are respectively disposed at the first end 31 and the second end 32 of the carry strap 30 (30A), and the two threading portions in this embodiment are two through holes 34.

Please refer to FIG. 3, when making the bath ball 10, the two ends 31, 32 of the carry strap 30 (30A) are flatly disposed against each other side by side, so that the carry strap 30 (30A) forms a loop, and the two through holes 34 are aligned with each other. Then the tie cord 25 passes through the two through holes 34 of the carry strap 30 (30A) to combine the carry strap 30 (30A) with the tie cord 25, and then binds the tie cord 25 to the main body 20 to complete the manufacture of the bath ball 10. The through hole 34 is a part for the tie cord 25 to pass through.

With the carry strap 30 of the invention and the through holes 34 provided on the carry strap, the carry strap 30 and the tie cord 25 can be quickly connected with each other by threading the tie cord 25 through the through holes 34 of the carry strap 30, and the carry strap 30 does not need to be tied manually to be capable of improving a production speed of the bath ball 10 and reducing costs. The carry strap 30 and the through holes 34 of the invention can be manufactured quickly mechanically to save manpower.

Furthermore, since the carry strap 30 does not need to be knotted, the carry strap 30 does not need to reserve a length for knotting to be capable of saving ⅓ of the length and reducing material costs and a manufacturing cost of the bath ball 10.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, the tie cord 25 passes through the through holes 34 of the carry strap 30 and restricts the carry strap 30, so the carry strap 30 is not capable of sliding. The threading portions (i.e., the through holes 34) of the carry strap 30 are close to and hidden in the main body 20, and are not exposed, which makes the bath ball 10 aesthetic in appearance. The carry strap 30 of the invention does not have the knot 5 of the hang cord 4 of the conventional bath ball 1, nor have the problem of the knot 5 of the conventional bath ball 1 being exposed. A quality of the bath ball 10 of the invention is aesthetically elegant, and the invention is indeed capable of completely solving the drawbacks of the conventional bath ball 1.

FIG. 5 is a bath ball 10′ according to a second preferred embodiment of the invention, which also comprises a main body 20, a tie cord 25, and a carry strap 30 (30B), wherein the main body 20 and the tie cord 25 are the same as that of FIG. 3, so they will not be described again.

The carry strap 30 (30B) is made of a high polymer material that can be heated to produce thermal bonding effect. The first end 31 and the second end 32 are overlapped side by side to form an overlapping portion, and the overlapping portion is hot pressed with a hot pressing tool, so that the overlapping portion is thermally bonded into a joint 36 due to fusion. The two ends 31, 32 are thus connected and fixed with each other and cannot be separated from each other, so that the carry strap 30 (30B) forms a closed loop. Two through holes 34 are respectively provided at the two ends 31, 32 and correspond to each other. In this embodiment, the joint 36 is closer to end edges of the first end 31 and the second end 32 than the two through holes 34. The tie cord 25 passes through the two through holes 34 to bind the main body 20. Similarly, the tie cord 25 can be quickly combined with the carry strap 30 (30B), and the carry strap 30 (30B) is incapable of sliding due to the threading portions (the through holes 34) being restrained by the tie cord 25, the threading portions are hidden in the main body 20 and are not exposed to keep the bath ball 10′ aesthetic.

FIG. 6 is a third preferred embodiment of the bath ball of the invention, and only the carry strap 30 and the tie cord 25 are shown in the figure. Wherein the carry strap 30 (30C) of this embodiment is roughly the same as the carry strap 30 (30B) of FIG. 5, the first end 31 and the second end 32 are overlapped side by side and combined with each other to form a joint 36 by hot pressing, so that the carry strap 30 (30C) forms a loop, and two through holes 34 are respectively provided at the two ends 31, 32 and correspond to each other. In this embodiment, the two through holes 34 are closer to the end edges of the two ends 31, 32 than the joint 36. The tie cord 25 passes through the two through holes 34 to bind the main body of the bath ball.

FIG. 7 is a fourth preferred embodiment of the bath ball of the invention, and only the carry strap 30 and the tie cord 25 are shown in the figure. Wherein the carry strap 30 (30D) of this embodiment is roughly the same as the carry strap 30 (30B) of FIG. 5, the first end 31 and the second end 32 are overlapped side by side and combined with each other to form a joint 36 by hot pressing, so that the carry strap 30 (30D) forms a loop, and two through holes 34 are respectively provided at the two ends 31, 32 and correspond to each other. In this embodiment, the two through holes 34 are provided on the joint 36. The tie cord 25 passes through the two through holes 34 to bind the main body of the bath ball.

FIGS. 8 to 10 show a bath ball 10″ of a fifth preferred embodiment of the invention comprising a main body 20, a tie cord 25, and a carry strap 30 (30E), the two ends 31, 32 of the carry strap 30 (30E) are head-to-tail overlapped to form an overlapping portion, and a hot pressing tool is used to apply heat to the overlapping portion to thermally bond the overlapping portion into a joint 36. The first end 31 and the second end 32 are connected with each other due to thermal bonding, so that the carry strap 30 (30E) is formed into a closed loop. A through hole 34 is provided at one of the ends of the carry strap 30 (30E), for example, disposing at the first end 31 and close to the joint 36. It is understandable that the through hole 34 can also be provided at the second end 32 of the carry strap 30 (30E).

Please refer to FIG. 10. When making the bath ball 10″, the tie cord 25 passes through the through hole 34 of the carry strap 30 (30E) to combine the carry strap 30 (30E) with the tie cord 25, then, the tie cord 25 binds the main body 20, and the manufacture of the bath ball 10″ is completed.

The carry strap 30 (30E) of the invention only needs to form the joint 36 by hot pressing in order that the two ends 31, 32 of the carry strap 30 (30E) can be combined with each other. It is not required to manually tie a knot and reserve a length for knotting, the carry strap 30 (30E) can be quickly connected with the tie cord 25 to be capable of improving a production speed of the bath ball 10″ and reducing costs. And as shown in FIG. 8, the carry strap 30 (30E) is incapable of sliding due to being restrained by the tie cord 25, and the threading portion (the through hole 34) of the carry strap 30 (30E) and the joint 36 are hidden in the main body 20 to make the bath ball 10″ aesthetic in appearance. The carry strap 30 (30E) of the invention is a complete and closed loop, the carry strap 30 (30E) does not have the knot 5 of the hang cord 4 of the conventional bath ball 1, nor have the problem of the knot 5 of the conventional bath ball 1 being exposed.

FIG. 11 is a sixth preferred embodiment of the bath ball of the invention, and only the carry strap 30 (30F) and the tie cord 25 are shown. The difference between this embodiment and the bath ball of FIG. 8 is only that: the through hole 34 is disposed on the joint 36 for the tie cord 25 to pass through, so that the carry strap 30 (30F) is combined with the tie cord 25.

Please refer to FIGS. 12 and 13 respectively for seventh and eighth preferred embodiments of the bath ball of the invention, only the carry strap 30 and the tie cord 25 are shown in the figures, and the main body of the bath ball is the same as that of the first preferred embodiment. Wherein, in the embodiment of FIG. 12, two through holes 34 are provided at one of the ends of the carry strap 30 (30G), such as the first end 31, and located by one side of the joint 36. The tie cord 25 is threaded through the two through holes 34 to bind the main body of the bath ball.

In the preferred embodiment of FIG. 13, two through holes 34 are respectively provided at the first end 31 and the second end 32 of the carry strap 30 (30H), and are respectively located by two sides of the joint 36. The tie cord 25 passes through the two through holes 34 and binds the main body of the bath ball. It is understandable that the two through holes 34 can also be provided on the joint 36.

FIG. 14 is a ninth preferred embodiment of the bath ball of the invention, and only the carry strap 30 (30I) and the tie cord 25 are shown in the figure.

The carry strap 30 (30I) is a closed loop and has a joint 36′. The joint 36′ is also formed on the carry strap 30 (30I) by hot pressing, and the carry strap 30 (30I) is formed with two loop portions 38, 39, wherein a size of the first loop portion 38 is smaller than that of the second loop portion 39, a through hole 34 is formed in the first loop portion 38, and the through hole 34 serves as the threading portion of the carry strap 30 (30I), and is located at one end of the carry strap 30 (30I). In detail, the first end 31 and the second end 32 are head-to-tail overlapped, and the two ends 31, 32 overlap with one side of the strap body 33 of the carry strap 30 (30I) to form an overlapping portion, and the joint 36′ is formed by hot pressing at the overlapping portion, thereby forming the two loop portions 38, 39. The tie cord 25 passes through the through hole 34 formed by the first loop portion 38, and then binds the main body of the bath ball. The second loop portion 39 of the carry strap 30 (30I) is for hanging or held by a user.

FIG. 15 shows the carry strap 30 (30J) and the tie cord 25 of the bath ball according to a tenth preferred embodiment of the invention. Wherein, a joint 36 and another joint 37 are disposed on the carry strap 30 (30J), and the two joints 36, 37 are kept from each other at a distance so that the carry strap 30 (30J) forms the two loop portions 38, 39. A through hole 34 (a threading portion) is formed in the smaller first loop portion 38. The joint 36 is the first joint, which can be the joint 36 shown in FIG. 8 (the first end 31 and the second end 32 of the carry strap are head-to-tail overlapped) or the joint 36 shown in FIG. 3 (the first end 31 and the second end 32 are overlapped side by side); and the second joint 37 is formed by overlapping and thermally bonding the two sides of the strap body 33 of the carry strap 30 (30J) with each other. The first loop portion 38 is smaller than that of the second loop portion 39; the tie cord 25 passes through the through hole 34 formed by the first loop portion 38 and then binds the main body of the bath ball.

The carry straps 30 (30I and 30J) respectively shown in the preferred embodiments of FIGS. 14 and 15 are the same as that of the first embodiment of FIG. 3, the carry strap 30 is hot pressed to form at least one of the joints 36, 36′ or 37, it is not required to tie manually to be capable of improving a production speed of the bath ball, and it is not required to reserve a length for knotting to be capable of saving a length of the carry straps, reducing material costs and a manufacturing cost of the bath ball. In addition, the carry straps 30 (30I and 30J) are also restrained by the tie cord 25 and are incapable of sliding, so that the through hole 34 is kept close to the main body 20 without being exposed to make the bath ball 10 aesthetic.

The invention replaces the conventional hang cord with the carry strap 30, and reduces the manpower required to manufacture the bath ball by the structural features of the carry strap 30, improves a manufacturing speed of the bath ball, reduces the costs, and enhances the aesthetics of the bath ball in order to improve the drawbacks of the conventional bath ball 1.

It is to be understood that the above description is only the embodiments of the invention and is not used to limit the present invention, and changes in accordance with the concepts of the present invention may be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention, for example, the equivalent effects produced by various transformations, variations, modifications and applications made to the configurations or arrangements shall still fall within the scope covered by the appended claims of the present invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A bath ball comprising: a main body being a soft object made of a material being capable of absorbing liquid; a tie cord for binding the main body; and a carry strap being an elongated belt with two ends, the two ends of the carry strap being merged to make the carry strap forming a loop; at least one through hole being provided on the carry strap; the tie cord passing through said through hole of the carry strap and binding the main body, the carry strap being restrained by the tie cord and incapable of sliding.
 2. The bath ball as claimed in claim 1, wherein the two ends of the carry strap are respectively provided with a through hole; and the tie cord passes through the two through holes.
 3. The bath ball as claimed in claim 1, wherein the two ends of the carry strap are combined to form a joint, and the carry strap forms a closed loop.
 4. The bath ball as claimed in claim 2, wherein the two ends of the carry strap are combined to form a joint, so that the carry strap forms a closed loop; and the two through holes are close to or disposed on the joint.
 5. The bath ball as claimed in claim 3, wherein the two ends of the carry strap are combined to form a joint; and said through hole is close to the joint or disposed on the joint.
 6. The bath ball as claimed in claim 5, wherein the two ends of the carry strap are overlapped side by side to form an overlapping portion, and the joint is disposed at the overlapping portion.
 7. The bath ball as claimed in claim 6, wherein the two ends of the carry strap are respectively provided with a through hole, and the two through holes are aligned with each other for the tie cord to pass through.
 8. The bath ball as claimed in claim 1, wherein the two ends of the carry strap are head-to-tail overlapped with each other, and a joint is formed at an overlapping portion of the carry strap, so that the carry strap forms a closed loop.
 9. The bath ball as claimed in claim 8, wherein said through hole is close to the joint or disposed on the joint.
 10. The bath ball as claimed in claim 8, wherein two through holes are disposed on the carry strap, the two through holes are located by one side of the joint together, or respectively located by two sides of the joint, or disposed on the joint.
 11. The bath ball as claimed in claim 1, wherein the carry strap forms a closed loop and has at least two loop portions; a through hole is formed in one of the loop portions; and the tie cord passes through the through hole.
 12. The bath ball as claimed in claim 11, wherein at least two different positions of the carry strap are overlapped and combined with each other to form at least one joint, so that the carry strap forms the at least two loop portions.
 13. The bath ball as claimed in claim 3, wherein the carry strap is made of a material that produces thermal bonding effect when being heated; and said joint is formed by hot pressing.
 14. The bath ball as claimed in claim 5, wherein the carry strap is made of a material that produces thermal bonding effect when being heated; and said joint is formed by hot pressing.
 15. The bath ball as claimed in claim 8, wherein the carry strap is made of a material that produces thermal bonding effect when being heated; and said joint is formed by hot pressing.
 16. The bath ball as claimed in claim 12, wherein the carry strap is made of a material that produces thermal bonding effect when being heated; and said joint is formed by hot pressing. 